What's For Dinner? Week 2

You know that obviously-single guy in the grocery store who's cart contains: a case of beer, 10 Hungry Man frozen dinners, a pack of beef jerkey, and a carton of orange juice ("to make it healthy")? Doesn't that just depress you to see? Seriously, what kind of quality of life is that? I know I'm a little on the opposite end of the extreme when it comes to the importance of nutrition and good food, but I always feel bad checking out in front of those guys with my eggplant, ginger root, and fresh herbs. (I'm the annoying customer with 50 plastic bags of various produce that the cashier has to look up codes for and weigh individually. Between items, she often looks up with a curious look like 'what in the world is she going to use this for?') So when Craig complains about my "fancy foods" and tops everything with barbeque sauce, I feel like reminding him that, without me, he would likely be "that guy" (except with Mountain Dew instead of beer).

Moving on...

Sophie loves yogurt! Stonyfield Farms makes a whole milk plain yogurt and I mashed in some avocado for her first taste. Gag if you must, but avocado is a fruit! And a creamy, rich texture at that. Plus Sophie loves avocado and introducing new foods always goes over better with a familiar one in the mix. We also tried it swirled with applesauce and she liked that too.
Oatmeal was another hit. It smells so good when it cooks on the stove top. I purchased and ground organic, steel-cut oats for this cereal and cooked it as I did the rice. Fork mashed banana or applesauce are perfect pairings.
Egg yolk was "okay"... best tolerated when out-flavored by sweet potato and squash. :)

New this week for Soph: chicken. I made up a batch plain and also concocted her first "dinners" in the 2oz food cubes with chicken, green beans and acorn squash together.

On the menu this week:
-Meatloaf (Will's fave, and the best way I can get him to eat meat), bacony green beans sauteed with tomato, onion and some broth, and another batch of those pumpkin walnut biscuits. This is Sunday supper, when I have more time to prepare.
-BLT's with the leftover bacon and tomato from the green beans
-Breakfast for dinner! Whole grain, blueberry pancakes and scrambled eggs, sliced pears
-Lasagna and salads - haven't made lasagna in forever! Sounded so good and is an easy make-ahead for casserole night this week.

A few side notes: on the way home from Grandma's house this weekend, I asked Will what sounded good for lunch. His answer: waffles and tomatoes. Very interesting. He's creating his own, new style of cuisine. And at dinner (with the meatloaf and green beans), he plucked a sauteed onion out of the green beans, handed it to me with scrunched eyebrows and said: "that's not nice, mommy". LOL

A few pictures of my family being silly (and cute) at dinner:





Lovely, I know. (Sorry for the fuzziness)




I usually give Sophie the lid of her sippy cup to play with when she's finished while I finish eating my own dinner.


We were making silly faces for the camera and Will thought it was hilarious when we showed him the digital image on the camera.




I enjoy cooking for my own personal pleasure, but more importantly, I love knowing that the people around my table are well-nourished and happy.